Reaper
by The Valiant Child
Summary: Dear Universe,  It's not fair of you to send a cute Reaper to save my life just so that he could announce that he wants to kill me himself. If you want me dead, get it over with already.  Sincerely, Yuki Minakami. FaixOC
1. Prologue

Prologue

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

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**A/N- This will be my second fanfic. The characters in the story are the same as the ones in my other fic, **_**My Angel**_**. So, if any of the readers have read it, you'll be quite in touch with my OCs. If you haven't read My Angel, I suggest you do.**

**Anyway, since this is a Fai/OC Fanfiction, I want all kuro/fai fans to NOT flame. Please?**

**Obviously reviews will be much appreciated and constructive criticism is welcome. But NO FLAMES!**

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Where am I?

_You're in the space between life and death._

Who are you?

_I'm your reaper._

Reaper?

_Yes, I'm a Grim reaper. I collect the souls of the deceased and take them where they belong._

What did you mean when you said that you're my reaper? Am I dead?

_You were supposed to die and I was sent to collect your soul._

So, Am I dead?

_No._

What do you mean?

_Like I said, you were supposed to die. But somehow you're not. But you're not alive either._

I don't understand. What happened?

_A demon was sent to kill you and he almost succeeded. But instead of dying, you ended up in a state where you are neither alive nor dead._

What happens now?

_Now, we wait. Hopefully, you'll die._

That's not a very nice thing to say.

_Doesn't matter to me. If you don't die and I don't take your soul back, I don't get my pay._

Pay?

_You didn't think that I did this job for free, did you?_

Reaping souls is a job and reapers get paid? Wow, that was new!

…

_Bad news._

What?

_You're not going to die after all._

_

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**A/N- My prologues tend to be confusing but the other chapters make more sense. You can take my word on it.**

**Unlike My Angel, I'll try to bring in as many TRC characters as possible. Also, I might make a crossover chapter between My Angel and Reaper. So, I'd advise you to read both fics.**


	2. Beginning

Chapter 1: Beginning

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

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**A/N: Here's chapter 1. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle or any of its characters. I do own Yuki.**

**Enjoy! ^_^**

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It stared out simply enough, like any other day. I didn't suspect anything. No one did. I mean, who would? Detention was kind of a regular thing for me. Somehow, the teachers always found my charming personality excruciatingly offensive. They called me rude. I just didn't get it. I wasn't rude.

If anyone was rude, it'd be the other chick. The so called 'other me'. She was the one who was rude with her cryptic messages and stuff. I'm not into bullshit like her. I'm more of a straightforward person. This "you are not meant to know yet", "I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own" crap doesn't work with me.

Anyway, I'll get back to you on that later. In the meantime, I was talking about detention. Apparently, it turns out that if you tell your teacher that her drawing skills were worse than your grandfather who once drew you an apple and colored it pink and you thought that it was the glowing backside of an orangutan, um, well, let's just say that your honesty isn't appreciated.

But I swear, I didn't know that it was actually an amoeba that Imai-sensei had drawn on the board in the course of explaining a very interesting was section about the life processes of unicellular organisms (Interesting as in you could ask your teacher stuff like "Sensei? Does paramecium fart?"…or maybe not, since the question was ignored coldly apart from the venomous glare sensei graced me with.). I was under the impression that the shriveled blob in front of me was the mummified butt of Imhotep, the 27th century BC Egyptian sage and astrologer, later worshiped as the god of medicine.

But my honest and creative humor went unappreciated. Detention: that was gratitude, teacher's style.

After the bell dismissed the class, I rushed out as fast as I could. I faintly heard Imai's sensei's horrendous voice shouting after me but I didn't bother to stop.

"Minakami! Get back here. We need to have a talk about your lack of manner young lady."

Yeah right, loser. Like I'd go back in that hell hole again to listen to a long lecture about as she put it, 'my apparent lack of manners.'

I slowed down when I thought I was far enough from the biology room. The hallways were crowded by the student mass of Tsubasa High, mindlessly walking for their lockers to get their books for the next class. I proceeded to do the same (minus the 'mindlessness'. Unlike all these people, I was filled with an inextinguishable supply of awesomeness.).

My locker was by the water fountain, where by some unknown reason, many of the mindless drones happened to stop by, not for the water but for an entirely different reason. The mass of annoying brats were mostly girls with a few gays here and there, waiting for the school's most voted 'hottie', Domeki Shizuka whose locker was next to mine.

I understood why the girls were there, some of them were good-looking and probably had a speck of a chance, but I honestly didn't get why the gays even bothered. Not that I have anything against gays, it's just that Domeki already had his eyes on a certain curly-haired brunette who was utterly clueless about his feelings which was not much of a surprise since Domeki did a very good job of hiding his feelings.

What surprised me and most other people who happened to share my superior intellect and a bit of my awesomeness (my friends), that the girl in question, who had been graced with the school's 'hottie's feelings was also oblivious to the undying love of a dark-haired, blue-eyes bespectacled youth who made it more than obvious about his crush on her. But sadly, Himawari stayed, stubbornly clueless.

I pushed my way through the horde of rabid fan-girls and their annoying screams of 'Kyaaaaaaaaa! Domeki-kun! We love you!'

Finally, I caught sight of my friends by my locker, talking among themselves, ignoring the streaming crowd.

"Hey!" I called and waved, to get their attention. The five teens turned and smiled, waving back. It took a while but I successfully, got past the obstacle of the fan-girls.

"Hey," I said a little breathless, "I won't be able to go to the movies with you guys after school today. Sorry."

"That's okay, we cancelled it anyway." Tomoyo said a lively girl with long, wavy back hair and soft, purple eyes. She could be sweet and kind one second and filled with burst of evil flying from her a second later. We loved that the most about her.

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, Sakura-chan and Watanuki-kun have detention."

I turned my attention to the two in question. Sakura Kinomoto: She was a timid, yet cheerful girl. She was the cutest in the group. She was a tiny figure with short, chestnut hair and light green eyes which spend most of their time staring dreamily at the object of her affection: Syaoran Li. She had a crush on him since forever. He liked her too, but both of them were just too shy to say anything.

With light brown, messy hair and blazing amber eyes, Syaoran was a good-looking dude and most girls had an eye on him too, but he was as clueless as Himawari.

Moving on, there was Kimihiro Watanuki. Somehow, everyone just called him by his last name. After so many years of calling him 'Watanuki', it was just too weird to address him as 'Kimihiro' all of a sudden. He didn't mind though.

He was the desperate 'dark-haired, blue-eyes bespectacled youth' who had his heart set on Himawari-chan. It was justified though, she was really cute. Well, all of my friends were really good-looking. I was the only one who had been left out by Mother Nature. Sakura, Tomoyo and Himawari repeatedly reminded me that it was not so but they just said that because they were my friends.

To add to my belief, no one had asked me out since sixth grade. Well, that was because I punched Jacob Hays in the course of the date for making an unwanted, annoying move on me. Boys have kept their distance from me since. So maybe, it was because of this particular incident and not because of my looks that I hadn't had a date since the last four years.

"…Yuki? Yuki? Are you listening?" Tomoyo's voice brought me back from my interesting conversation with myself.

"Yeah?"

"Why couldn't you come to the movies? Detention again?"

I nodded.

"What did you do this time?"

"Uh, I just pointed out to Imai-sensei that her drawing of an amoeba looked more like Imhotep's shriveled, mummified butt."

A burst of giggles and laughter echoed around.

I smiled. At least _someone_ appreciated my good humor.

When the laughter slowly died out, Sakura voiced out meekly, "Yuki-chan? I-I've never been in detention before…Is it going to be okay?"

I smiled, "Of course, don't worry about it. Wait, what did you do anyway?" With the exception of little old me, the rest of my friends were good students, never causing any real trouble. Well, there was Tomoyo who had a long list of…improperly mischievous things to her credit but somehow, she never got caught.

"I forgot my math homework…" Sakura said, embarrassed.

I turned to Watanuki.

"I was sleeping during class."

See, they never did anything bad. I was the only one with the reputation.

I reverted back to Sakura. She was trembling a bit and Syaoran was awkwardly trying to calm her.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. You can take it from a pro." I assured, "Detention is like my second home. There's nothing to be worried about. You just have to figure out how to spend the long hour cramped up in the classroom." Knowing Sakura, she'd probably be doing the rest of her homework or assignments due the next month. Me, on the other hand, well, I had a long hour of listening to an old cow drone on about how I was enveloped in evil and could never be cleaned, how my manners had been destroyed by my wicked mind and how if I didn't divert from this path of evil, I'd be swallowed up by the Satan and so on…

I had heard that so many times. Imai-sensei really needed to change her speech. She had said that to me for as long as I could remember, so much so that I had it practically memorized.

"A-Are you sure, Yuki-chan? It's really going to be okay?"

"Sure."

I wasn't really lying because at that time, I had no idea what was going to happen. How could I be expected to know that a demon would come after me that very day? And that demon would manage to kill me? I swear, I had absolutely no idea.

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**A/N: Reviews? Fai will hug and kiss you if you do! ?**


	3. Accusation

Chapter 2- Accusation

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

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A/N: A little warning, this chapter might suck since writer's block has been eating me for ages. Please just don't flame.

Rei: By the way, thanks for all those reviews.

Nims-chan: You really weren't kidding when you said that you were gonna read all my fics.

I was hoping that the 'Imhotep's shriveled up mummified butt' thing would be funny. You know this kind of did happen to me in real life. There was this teacher in the ninth grade with terrible drawing skills. She wasn't a bio teacher though. Geography. She drew something on the board, I can't remember what but it was so ridiculously ugly! Rei and I had to struggle so hard not to laugh out loud. But we didn't complement the teacher to her face about her brilliant talent. We figured it was better left a secret. ;-)

Your-Favorite-Stalker: May I call you Favorite–chan? Because Stalker-chan would just be too weird.

Anyway. I'm really happy that you like my writing skills and also that you think that my fic is 'awesome' (Yuki: Of course it is! After all, awesome _is_ my middle name after all. / Me: Shut up!).

I hope that you'll keep on reading and reviewing in the future.

GAMF fatlard Hobos: I talk behind a teacher's back A LOT as well. I'm not like Yuki. I just don't have the guts and the teachers in my school are like demons sent straight from the fiery depths of purgatory. They'll roast anyone in eternal hellfire the first chance they get.

Asuka Neko: Oh, you're not the only one to write FaixOC fics alright. There are more of us, but unfortunately not as many Kuro/Fai freaks.

You know, every time I check in for reviews, I feel as though there's a flame from a Kuro/Fai fan waiting for me. I really don't get what those people's problem is. I mean, this is supposed to be _fanfiction!_ We can do whatever we want in out fics here. Even if Clamp were to declare Kuro/Fai an official pair, we could still write FaixOC fics because this is _fanfiction!_

Yuuko: Instead of a disclaimer, we'd like everyone to know that Artemis and Rei own TRC and its characters. They have also taken over the world and stolen your cookies. You might want to check your jar.

Me: *Rolls eyes* Obviously Yuuko's lying about Rei and me owning TRC. If we did, we wouldn't be writing a fanfiction. This really would be happening in TRC.

But the part about taking over the world, that's true. By the way, the cookies? They were so good! Mmmmm…

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_I leaned my head against the window and watched as the rain lashed on the glass. I frowned. Stupid rain. It had been going on since the previous night. I hated this kind of weather. The damp weather messed up my mood. Just my luck to be born in the middle of monsoon._

_But there was one thing that I hated even more than the rain._

"_Come on, Yuki-chan," Sakura's perky voice floated in from downstairs, "It's time to cut the cake!"_

_I groaned._

_Despite my protests, Sakura had insisted on throwing me a birthday party. She had invited everyone that we possibly knew had had arranged all the food and had even taken care of decorations._

_I was adopted by Sakura's parents when I was just a kid. I don't remember my parents and I don't have any photos. But it was no big deal. How can you even miss someone you've never even known?_

_I was told that my parents had died in a car crash. Very common, very lame excuse. But I was just five then, so of course I believed. But I found out the truth soon enough that day._

"_Happy twelfth birthday!" a loud chorus exploded the moment I descended the stairs. I pulled up my best glare and gave the people gathered a piece of my mind. No one even noticed._

_With a cheerful smile Sakura glided forward and handed me a large present. I frowned even more furiously._

"_What did I say about gifts?" I hissed._

"_Um," Sakura fumbled for words, "that you like them…?"_

_I sighed, exasperated. "No, Sakura-chan, I said that I don't like gifts and birthday parties…or cakes as a matter of fact." I added the last part as Watanuki walked in with a huge chocolate cake, decorated with blue and white sugar roses._

_Sakura chewed her lip. "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan, but you always look so gloomy so I thought that this might make you happy."_

_I felt sorry for her then. Sakura was a good kid and she had tried so hard. So, as much as I hated it, I pulled up a goofy smile. Immediately Sakura lightened up as well._

_Sometimes I hated the fact that I simply oozed niceness._

"Do I stink?" I bent over to ask Sakura.

"No. Of course not. Why would you ask that?" Sakura put up a genuinely confused expression.

I frowned slightly at a memory. "Well, Xing Huo said that—"

I head a snicker from Sakura's left. Watanuki leaned forward to get a look at my face as he said, "Since when did _you _startcaring about what others thought?"

I should probably have narrowed my eyes at him, accompanied by a rude sign. But I considered his words. Although grudgingly, I had to admit that he was right.

"Oh my god," I said, "I'm losing my awesomeness!" I pulled up a horrified face to match my tone.

"Of course you're not losing your 'awesomeness', Yuki-chan." Sakura assured.

"But I never cared what others thought of me before. What am I turning into?"

"A human, perhaps?" Watanuki offered.

This time I went all out with the rude sign. Watanuki puffed up his face and turned the other way. Sakura looked at him and turned back to me. "Yuki-chan!"

I lifted up my hands in a _hey_-_don't-look-at-me-It's-not-my-fault _kind of gesture.

With a low sigh, Sakura turned back to the book that she was reading. We were currently sitting in for detention. Miraculously, Imai-sensei didn't turn up for her day's torture session which was really bizarre.

But hey, I didn't want to ruin my mood by thinking why the old hag hadn't come around. I just wanted to enjoy my moment of peace.

I was more than grateful that sensei hadn't shown up. The thing was I had gotten into more trouble that day. Big surprise, right? I mean being such a wonderful, well behaved kid and all, you'd expect that all the good that ever happened would happen to me, but somehow, by some unknown reason, it wasn't so.

So anyway, it happened between classes. Xing Huo our school's personal bitch walked up to me after Math and wrinkled up her face.

"You stink like hell, you know that Yuki? It's so disgusting. Ever tried something called a 'deodorant'? Or maybe a bath?"

Snickers erupted around me as Xing's little drones and boyfriend, Kyle walked up to gang up on me.

I was annoyed. I didn't want to get into anything. They weren't worth my troubles anyway. I was far too important and incredible to care about those morons. And in any case, Xing wasn't in her right mind anyway, because the only stench in the vicinity was from _her_. You see, Xing Huo's not human. She's a malfunctioning farting machine. She can't live without farting but the thing is that she has been deprived of her farting privileges since the last time she did let out the poisonous battalion inside her, the entire race of dinosaurs were driven into extinction. Now, if she were to repeat the same feat, Earth would be nuked.

And you wouldn't even want me to start on that hideous monstrosity she keeps around her and calls 'boyfriend'.

"Oh, are you going to cry?" Kyle mocked, "You know, Yuki, you try so hard to act tough but the fact is that you're just a _girl_. A whiney, ugly little _girl_."

He said the word 'girl' like it some kind of a disease. I honestly should have felt angry. But all I felt was pity for the poor guy.

Here's the thing, boys are like lava lamps. Fun to watch, but not too bright. They think that they're better than girls because they're delusional and possibly lack a functioning brain. If they had a quarter of our intelligence or even an ounce of common sense, they'd acknowledge our superior intellect.

And Kyle, of course was no exception to the above rule.

"…and you know what?" Kyle continued as I pushed past him, "you shouldn't be allowed here. You shouldn't have any friends. Not after what you did, killing your best friend and all."

I froze.

"Say that again." My voice was low, even, deadly.

"Yeah, that's right. You killed your _own_ best friend! What did that poor guy do anyway, to deserve something like that?"

I had promised myself (and someone else. Long story) that I wouldn't bother with these worthless creeps. But this was the last straw. No one and I do mean _no one_ could get away, saying something as that.

With my fists balled I walked back to Kyle. He was still snickering as I gathered up whatever strength I could and smashed my fist over his already ugly face, further ruining his hideous topography. The satisfying scrunch of the nasal cartilage tearing sang like music in my ears as wet droplets of blood spattered on my fist, the floor and best of all, Xing's cashmere sweater.

Instead of bending over to her so called love-of-her-life, Xing screamed at me, "Argh! You bitch! You ruined my cashmere sweater! Do you know how much that cost?"

I shrugged and walked away. I had never felt better in my life and I didn't even care when I was called over to the principal's office a few minutes later.

Sitting behind a large mahogany desk, Yuuko watched me carefully with her deep crimson eyes. She took off the reading glasses she had on and gestured for me to take a seat.

Even though she was the principal and all, Yuuko wasn't like the other teachers. She was kind of cool, although majority of the school seemed to disagree. They called her a 'witch' which was because of a certain incident in the past. If I were to reveal a certain truth about myself that I had been hiding from the rest of the world for the past years, I guessed that I'd receive the same courtesy. Because to the world, 'different' didn't exist, neither did 'special'. It was just 'normal' or 'freak'. And believe me, I wasn't normal.

Minutes passed as I just sat there with Yuuko surveying me with her unnatural eyes. Finally, I got bored.

"I'm not gonna apologize, okay? You don't know what that ass—" Yuuko coughed, "…jerk, said."

Yuuko leaned forward and rested her chin on both hands. "Unfortunately, Yuki, this is not something that can be fixed with an apology. And I _do_ know what Kyle said."

I frowned. "Then you should know that it wasn't my fault. He provoked me."

"You broke the boy's nose, Yuki. I'm trying my best to convince his parents not to sue your father for this."

"_Foster-_father."

Yuuko ignored me. "You really need to learn to control your temper. I have managed a compromise with Kyle's parents. For your behavior, Yuki, your father will—"

"_Foster-_father."

Yuuko narrowed her eyes. She hated being interrupted, "Your _father_ will have to pay Kyle's medical expenses and you're to be suspended from the school for a week."

"WHAT?" my jaw dropped.

"Yuki, —" Yuuko tried to be patient but I wasn't listening.

"Oh, don't you 'Yuki' me!" I hadn't even realized that I was practically shouting, "Didn't you _hear? _Kyle accused me of killing—"

"I _did _hear it Yuki. And you have to calm down. It would have been okay if you'd have punched the boy with a little less force. But you had to go and break his nose. I'm sorry but I can't do anything about this."

I let out a frustrated sight.

"But I'll try my best to not let this go into your permanent record, okay?" Yuuko offered.

I took a few seconds before nodding. It wasn't Yuuko's fault after all. But I had to blame _someone_. I decided Kyle would be the target for my hatred.

"You may go now, Yuki."

I nodded and stood up.

"One more thing, please don't hold a grudge against Kyle, okay."

Yeah, right! Like that's ever gonna happen. But it was not like I would let Yuuko into what I was really thinking. Her magic was much stronger than mine. If she ever figured out what I was thinking of doing right then, she'd probably put a binding spell on me or something until I came to my 'senses'. I could be reckless at times but I wasn't stupid.

Yuuko was a really, really old sprite, ancient actually. And I was just a human. Although my magic was more powerful than most and I did have some super cool extra abilities (like being able to see spirits) but there was in no way I could match the powers of a seasoned sprite. I was still training to control my powers.

I did the smart thing and just nodded and left the principal's office. I stopped at the door, though. Holding my breath, I slowly turned my head to the left.

My eyes surveyed the fern positioned on the dark corner for a few seconds. I could feel Yuuko curious gaze on my back. Finally, I walked out and closed the door behind me.

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A/N: I hope that this chapter was worth reviewing. I'm sorry that Fai hasn't shown up yet, but I promise that he will in the next chapter. So, if you want Fai, you'll have to review.


	4. Assassin

Chapter 3- Assassin

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

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A/N: This was the chapter I had the most fun writing.

Usually the choose a song to go with my fic after I write the chapter. But I wrote this chapter to go with the song. I've been listening to it for ages but I still can't get it out of me head.

Yuuko: This chapter is not in Yuki's POV. It's someone else, and I you can guess who, Artemis will let go out with any of TRC's characters. Even Fai, whom she's clinging to right now and refusing to let go…but we'll get her off him soon enough…

Rei: Ew... Artemis... DO NOT DO THAT WHEN I'M AROUND! I'LL GET NIGHTMARES!

Fai: Artemis-chan, you have to let go of me so that I can read the disclaimer properly.

Rei: *mutters* perv

Me: *clinging harder* NO! If I let go, Yuuko will haul you off to go out with my reviewers.

Rei: But don't you want good reviews? *in an attempt to stop the pervert parade*

Me: *sob* But…Fai…

Watanuki: Wasn't it your idea to give off Fai on dates? And hasn't he already gone out with the reviewers from your other fics? Why are you acting like a baby NOW?

Me: I acted like a baby in my other fics as well.

Watanuki: Oh, dear god…

Fai: I guess that I'll have to read the disclaimer with that stalker clinging to me…

Rei: Stalker! Ha!

Me: Stalk—

Fai: I said, beautiful author of a wonderful fanfiction. *whispers* creepy stalker with disturbing fanfictions.

Rei: I think we'll get along fine if you were not such a perv *whispers back*

Me: *did not hear the whispered part* O/O Hehehehehehhehe….

Kuro-pom-pom: Are you kidding me? You're really going to fall for that.

Rei: *pulls Kuro-ku back* Let it go. Otherwise she'll never let Fai read the disclaimer and this fic will never continue.

Fai: DISCLAIMER!

Mokona: Bam! Bam! Badam!

Fai: Artemis-chan and Rei-chan do not own TRC or any of it's characters. They never have and possibly never will.

Mokona: Bam! Bam! Bam!

Fai: The song used in this chapter is _Assassin_ by John Mayer.

Mokona: Badam! Badam! Ba! Ba! Da! Dum!

Fai: Please read and review. And do try to get the question Yuuko-san mentioned right. I'd like to go out with all you pretty ladies.

Mokona: BADA! BADA! BADA! BAM!

Fangirls: KYAAAAAAAAAAAA! *_* XO!

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_I was a killer, was the best they'd ever seen_

_I'd steal your heart before you ever heard a thing_

_I'm an assassin and I had a job to do_

_Little did I know that girl was an assassin too…_

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_

_The night was cold but he didn't mind. In fact, he welcomed it._

_The assassin leaned against a tree with his arm folded and an impassive expression cloaking his face. A cold breeze wafted that had his midnight black hair moving with the wind._

_Except for the few creatures of the night, no one was aware of his presence. He was one with the shadows, part of the darkness. He never blinked as his dark eyes locked on the balcony window in first floor of the house that belonged to his victim._

_The curtains were drawn but the light was switched on in the room that the assassin was so intently watching. He could make out her tiny little figure as she moved about, his eyes never leaving her._

_It was hours later that the light was finally switched off and darkness prevailed. He gave her a few minutes to fall asleep before he raced for her open window. The moon was full, throwing a pale glow all around but he cast a spell of darkness around to cloak himself from prying eyes._

_As he glided forward, he closed his eyes and pictured her room in his mind. A bed set across the northern wall with a small table housing a lamp and an alarm clock right beside it and a closet to the left. On the eastern wall was just huge shelf, each inch covered with books. An oaken desk filled the space by the window on the southern wall with a chair to sit on._

_His magic fed off the memory and took him to the place that he desired. He felt the air around him brush across his cold skin as he materialized on the balcony. He confidently strode forward and tried the door. It was locked but it didn't matter to him. At the touch of his cold, pale fingers the locked clicked and he silently walked into the room._

_The assassin smiled. Nothing could stop him from getting to his victim. Other than the useless lock, there had been a couple of even more ineffectual barriers and protective spells around the house. They might have been a problem to any other being, but for him, it didn't matter. They simple bounced off him._

_Gracefully, he breathed across the room to the bed. Laying underneath the sheets, her long, blonde hair a tangled mess, closed eyes and a serene expression, was the one whose soul the assassin had come to claim. _

_He probably should have killed her immediately and left. That was his job after all. Lingering on, staring at the victim was not part of the job description. But that was exactly what he was doing._

_There was a soft rustle behind him. The assassin jumped up in surprise and whirled around._

_Just a bird._

_With a relieved sigh, the assassin turned back to the job at hand: Killing the cute, innocent girl._

_As he turned, something caught his eye. The assassin hadn't bothered to look around the room as he entered. He hadn't felt any living being's presence, apart from his victim's. He had assumed that the room would be as he had last seen it, just as he had pictured it from his memory. But there was a slight change, almost unnoticeable._

_Sitting at the bedside table, right by the lamp and the clock was a small framed photograph. It was picture of a young boy, about thirteen or so with his arms around the girl whose room the assassin had invaded. The girl seemed embarrassed and she was looking away from the camera with a slight frown. She was the same age as the boy when the picture was taken and her hair was short as well. _

_The boy on the other hand was grinning broadly. His messy blonde hair stuck up in weird angles._

_The assassin frowned when he saw the photograph. Why would she keep that picture? He tore his eyes from the photo to get a look at the girl. She was just as she had been seconds before._

_The assassin's dark eyes glazed at her sadly. He noted that she looked a little different than the last time he had seen her, she looked…more beautiful. The long hair suited her better and the content expression was much better than the frown that she always seemed to keep up whenever awake. _

_Something inside him clenched, hurting him at the though of having to kill her. But he_ _had to. There was no other choice. He_ had_ to._

_He didn't act immediately. The assassin took a moment to stare at her but finally the inevitable took over. He sighed and gave in to what he had come to accomplish._

_Closing his eyes, the assassin summoned the darkness around him. The entity immediately responded and raced to answer his call. It swirled around the assassin like a cool mist before taking the form of a long, sharp, black scythe. There was a moon carved at the head with a large blue stone just above it._

_He opened his eyes and took one last look at the sleeping figure._

_The assassin raised the scythe and as he did, black, glossy velvet wings emerged from the stone on the scythe. They breathed across the silver blade, yearning for the soul of the sleeping girl. _

_The assassin lifted the scythe and brought it down on his victim to claim her soul._

_

* * *

_

He had been following her since the previous night. He wasn't bored or annoyed. If it had been someone else and not her, he'd probably had gotten the job over with. But this victim was special. He would take his time with her.

His employer would probably be mad. But he didn't really care what that little…creep thought. She was almost always in a bad mood. Even if he did as asked, she'd probably still be unhappy and assign him again to another soul and he'd be stuck with someone utterly boring.

So having decided to stick around for a while, the assassin had been following his victim since the previous night when he had failed to kill her.

Something had gone wrong. She was not supposed to have seen him. Although the girl always had been able to see spirits, this was different. The assassin had cloaked himself with darkness. Not even demons could see him, not unless he wanted them to. But then, when she opened her eyes as he swung his scythe, she could see him alright. Even Death's wings recoiled. That was unnatural.

But that wasn't the end. She saw him. Saw the scythe and immediately acted to defend herself.

She lifted her hand and a blast of blue energy collided against the assassin. He was thrown towards the sliding glass doors by the balcony.

This again, was not supposed to happen. All magic should have passed by him harmlessly. That was why he hadn't bothered with a shield. How could her magic have been so powerful? She was after all, just human. And terrible at offensive magic, if he recalled correctly.

Before he could even make and effort to get up she was standing in front of him. Still pinned to the glass doors, he didn't see her face as dozens of invisible bonds wound around him and hoisted him up.

When he finally saw her face, he knew, he just knew that this wasn't the same person whose soul he had come to claim. There was something different about her.

She didn't speak. She simply looked up at him with evident curiosity, without the slightest sound. She looked as though she had a million things boiling inside her that she wanted to say to him but she didn't and even though he wanted to, he didn't prompt her. He didn't even ask her who she was as he yearned to.

Both of them just stared at each other, unwilling to let out the questions buzzing in their heads.

It felt like hours but it had only lasted a few seconds.

All of a sudden the girl gasped loudly and she collapsed. The spell binding the assassin broke and he crashed down into the tiled floor.

The assassin was still baffled by the events of the previous night. Who was it that had taken over his victim's body?

Later, instead of killing her, he picked up the fallen figure and placed her back under the covers and he swiftly left the house. He had been trailing her ever since.

Invisible to all, he sat on the empty desk by her as she enlightened her biology teacher about the similarities between a 27th century BC Egyptian sage's butt and an amoeba. He snickered as softly as possible as the teacher turned a brilliant shade of red and then purple before awarding the assassin's little victim to an hour of detention.

He was also there right by her when she broke some jerk's nose just an hour later.

So much for keeping her promise not to get worked up about what those losers said. But then again she was doing pretty well at first. But then they had to go and accuse her of…

Well, in any case, he wasn't surprised when Yuuko had to suspend her. He had hoped that she'd stop causing all these trouble but what was he thinking? She would never change, for better or for worse. She'd always be the same and he liked it that way. He always had.

The assassin leaned against the wall by the fern in Yuuko's office as his victim got up to leave. She turned a deaf ear to the last of the principal's lecture and walked up to the door. He expected her to move on but she stopped. Holding her breath, she slowly turned her head and fixed her gaze at the exact spot the assassin was standing.

He froze. How could she have seen him? He had been invisible to her for the whole day. Unless, the one to have invaded her body the previous night had returned. But he couldn't feel any change in her presence.

Her gaze locked on him for a moment before she bit her lips and walked out, closing the door behind her.

_

* * *

_

A/N: Okay, the ending was kind of…incomplete. That's how I felt when I read it. Anyway, please ignore that and do review.

Rei: We might not be able to update because of our Boards. It something like the SATs although more time- consuming *sighs*. Hopefully, they'll end in March...

Me: Which roughly translated means: we'll be updating in March, when the exams will be over and I'll get my internet back.

Rei: But just because we won't be around doesn't mean that you don't have to review.

Me: Yeah. I'll have Rei checking in and if you guys don't review, I won't update in March. He he he… and let me tell you that the next chapter is really good and LONG! Yes, that's right. And it has Fai AND Yuui in it! That HAS to be enough to prompt you into clicking the pretty review button, the same one that I had Fai decorate with Christmas lights.

Yuki: Well than, go on…review…

Me: Okay, before we disappear off for almost three months, I'd like you all to know that I have two other TRC fics that are going to be connected with _Reaper._ So, you might want to read them. Here's a preview to one of the two fics: _Trickster ~_

* * *

Hi, I'm Artemis. I know that my name sound like the stupid author of those TRC fics, _My Angel_ and whatnot that you read and review (Why do you bother anyway?), but I'm not her okay?

I sadly happen to be one of her OCs. Sad because she happens to own me.

Anyway, this is not about me. This is a short preview for the XxArtemisxX (ugly witch!)'s new Fanfiction, _Trickster._

It starts out about Yuki Minakami (yes, yes, Arty has used her previous OCs here as well. She says that it's because all three of her fics are connected but I think that it';s because she's too lazy to find new names and frame new characters.); age sixteen; species: sprite. Oh, not the soda, the mythical creature!

Here all the different dimensions that CLAMP has used in TRC form one world. Yuki is taken to Clow by her guardian, Chitose to hide her from Chaos, an organization that collects sprites and their counterparts: the tricksters.

In order to protect the sprites and tricksters out there, the government formed Shield, and Yuki is transported to the very headquarters of that organization, kept in the care of foster parents; the Kinomotos.

She tries out for a normal life, but things seem to fall apart when the very reason she had to flee her last home comes back to haunt her here; one of Chaos's tricksters who captured her sister and now is after her…in Clow…inside Shield…as one of it's agents.

Yuki is soon assured that it wasn't this particular trickster who had taken her sister, but his brother who had turned over to Chaos.

She begins to believe…slowly…cautiously at first…but she starts to believe him…the trickster with his carefree smile and easy charm.

As her trust grows, it turns out that the trickster might not exactly be who he says he is…but could it be too late for her to suspect the truth about him? Too late to uncover the web of lies she's been tangled in…would she ever discover that her life so far had been just a lie, a carefully fabricated trap by the very trickster she had grown to trust so impeccably?

_Trickster_ is not half as bad as _My Angel_ so you might want to check it out, but in case this preview is not enough to sway you into reading the fic, here's a sneak peak at the prologue of _Trickster_.

o_o

Prologue

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

* * *

_Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,_

_That's alright because I like the way it hurts._

_Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,_

_That's alright because I love the way you lie._

_I love the way you lie._

_

* * *

_

He stood there, watching. Motionless. An inscrutable expression etched across his features. As naïve as I was, I had tried to call for him when I saw his silhouette step out of the shadows. I had actually hoped that he'd save me.

My mind was in shock from waking up suspended in mid air in an empty room with no doors, no windows, just a floor-to-ceiling glass in front of me that stretched on both sides. Beyond it was the person responsible for my current situation, watching, probably celebrating the success of his deceit. And as thoughtless as I was, I actually expected him to come rescue me. I realized soon, when he just stood there, that he wouldn't help.

I was confused. Why was he just standing there? Why wasn't he doing anything? Didn't he care? Didn't he care just a little bit? But his unblinking eyes just watched me, his gaze unwavering.

I couldn't gather anything from his expression. Slowly, painfully, realization dawned. I tried to fight it, fight the truth and the pain that it brought along. I didn't want to believe.

A cold tear trickled down my cheek, another followed.

But he just kept watching. It was as though he didn't have a heart, he didn't have feelings, emotions. It was like he was hollow inside. I was hurting, so bad. But he didn't feel a thing, couldn't feel a thing.

It had all been a lie. Each word, each smile; all just a perfect, flawless lie. And I had believed it. I believed it all. I still held on to it, I still believed it.

Even his uncaring, cold eyes as they stared at me, couldn't change that.

I hadn't known what he was when I had first met him. I had no idea. Maybe it was because of that that I believed. But now that I knew the truth about him, why couldn't I make myself understand? Why couldn't I be as him: so callous, so cold? Why couldn't I stop caring? It wasn't worth it, why couldn't understand that?

Because I loved him.

The answer came without a moment's hesitation. More pain followed as I tried to close my eyes, in a desperate effort to block out his image, standing in front of me, staring with heartless, frozen eyes. But the image stayed as it was, he stayed as he was; insensitive, unemotional.

I shouldn't. I knew that I shouldn't love him. I couldn't. It didn't matter to him what I felt. He didn't feel anything. Because he was just another one of them, just another liar.

Just another trickster.

* * *

Me: Okay, so what do you think? Worth a read? Let me know, okay?

…Review…


	5. Wait, did i just die?

Chapter 4: Wait, back up, am I dead?

Author: XxArtemisxX _(a million shades of awesome)_

{how about a million shades of green?}

Editor: lady sovereign _(insufferable and annoying) _

{YOU ARE DEAD!}

* * *

A/N: Hello! As promised, both Yūi and Fai are there in this chapter. ^_^

And this is by far the longest chapter in _Reaper_. More than 6,000 words, I think.

The parts in the italics are past incidents and a continuation of the little part about the birthday I put in chapter 2

Sakura: We are all grateful to every single one of you who reviewed.

Rei: And all those lazy people out there who have read _Reaper_ but didn't bother leaving a review, know that there is a sniper trained on you RIGHT NOW!

Me: Yes, we can see you. We know what you're up to and if that pretty review button is not clicked, someone is going to be VERY unhappy and things are not pretty when this someone is unhappy.

Yūko: So, do yourselves a favor, protect your life by typing some elaborate string of lies that the idiots will appreciate and no brains are going to be blown.

Tomoyo: On a happier note, here's the disclaimer:

Syaoran: Disclaimer-TRC still belongs to CLAMP. Artemis-chan and Rei-chan are still broke and unable to afford the manga and its characters…

TRC cast: PHEW!~

Syaoran: …and the sniper's still pointed at you.

Me: The following people are the ones who are filled with Yuki's inextinguishable supply of awesomeness and they are the people who I'll allow to live after taking over the world.

Yes, if you review, I'll let you live as well.

Nims-chan: Yes, you do get Fai…as much as it pains me.

Ahem, back to topic…

The Xing Huo description?

…that was originally for a teacher of mine. Whenever she used to enter our class, she'd complain that it stank and kept urging all of us to use deodorants or buy a room freshener. Hate her. Stupid woman's daughter tried to ruin our (Rei, me and another friend's) Literature project during our school exhibition.

Anyway, I'll be revealing the assassin's identity in this chapter so read carefully and find out if you were right in your guesses or not.

Oh, and wish your sister luck on her Boards for us! ^_^

TheRetardedlyAwesome: OMG, Thank you so much for that review! I'm floating in around heaven (since I'm not allowed inside. God thinks that I'll take over), knowing that someone thinks that my fic is 'awesomer than epic' . I'm also very glad to know that I made you laugh and I'll continue to do so if you'll review again! ^_^

Oh, and could you tell me exactly which part you found confusing? Maybe I could clarify things a bit.

neko-chan cat eyedgirl meong: That is a very long name. Would it be okay, if I just called you neko-chan?

Thanks for the review. Keep reading and reviewing and the updates will keep coming!

* * *

Yuki's POV

_Hoping that my hair would hide the blush, I turned my head the other way just as the camera clicked the photograph. Why the hell did he have to put his arm around me? Whatever happened to personal space?_

"_Smile, Yuki. Smile" Yūi reminded me._

"_Why?" I muttered._

"_Because it makes you looked more beautiful."_

_It was when he said things like that I got confused. I wasn't sure to feel happy or pop one on in his face. But that might mess up his topography and well, he was kind of good looking. Plus, it'd be a waste of my energy (Well, maybe just one sucker punch?)._

_It was not as though Yūi liked me or anything. He was just messing around. And he was always nice to _all_ girls. And we were best friends after all and that's why he _had _to be nice to me and not just because I could easily kick his ass._

_I watched as he rushed past me to get a look at the photograph of us that Sakura had just taken. He said something about wanting a copy when Sakura uploaded the photos into her computer._

"_I'm sorry about all this." Someone stepped up beside me._

"_Hey, Fai. What are you sorry about?"_

"_All of this." Fai said gesturing the surroundings, "I know how much you hate birthday parties and all the fuss involved but well, no one ever listens to the boring twin."_

"_Hey, you're not boring. Truthfully, I like you better than Yūi. He's annoying." I honestly meant it._

_Fai smiled knowingly, "I'm not sure about that. Yūi's your best friend."_

"_Well, so are you."_

"_I know. But—" he stopped himself._

"_What."_

"_Nothing."_

_I wasn't a nosy person so I let it drop. Mostly because I had a vague idea about what he was going to say. It wouldn't be the first time for someone to suggest that Yūi and I might be good together. As in _together, _together. _

_Yeah. Right._

_How delusional could you be?_

_The again, Fai might not have meant to say that. Maybe it was something else. Sakura might be the only one with the overactive imagination. If only she'd use some of her time to explore the possibility of a certain brown-eyed brunette having a crush on her, her life would be so much better._

_Yūi came back and pulled me away towards the desert table. He grabbed a piece of cake and handed me another._

"_So," Yūi said, conversationally as he kept walking, now towards the stairs, "I heard you went out with Hayes last week."_

"_Oh, yes." I said unemotionally, "It was a blast."_

"_So I heard."_

"_Yeah. The chicken was as tasty as the nearest piece of rubber, the movie was fantastic. I think I fell asleep after the first ten minutes and then I had to walk back home alone."_

"_I heard that you also punched the guy. I'm proud of you."_

_I shrugged, "That was just to thank him for the wonderful evening."_

"_What did he do anyway?"_

_We were just outside my room. I pushed the door and walked in._

"_Nothing much. He tried to hold my hand."_

_Yūi laughed. "I hold your hand all the time. You've never punched me."_

"_You're my friend. You're an exception."_

_He pulled up his usual goofy grin. "Good to know." He said lacing his fingers through mine and walked over to the window._

_Although grudgingly, I had to admit that I liked having him around than any of my other friends. However annoying, there was just something about him. Maybe…_

_I pulled out that string of thought. Dear God! Sakura's fluffy imagination was rubbing onto me._

_I tried to pull my hand apart. I needed my head clear; it was creepy, thinking what I was thinking. It was ridiculous, stupid and absolutely creepy. Yūi wouldn't let go though. His grip on me tightened._

_I was just about to tell him that if he didn't let go, I'd introduce Ms. Fist to his nose and the date would probably end with a bloody kiss._

_But the words dried up in my throat when I saw his expression. And after a second, I knew why._

"_I can sense a demon." He whispered._

* * *

Why? Why didn't I bring my MP3 player with me? Or maybe a book? What was I planning to do for the mind-numbing hour of detention? Oh wait, ugly Imai was supposed to turn up and give me a lecture on my satanic habits.

What, I ask you, is satanic about being honest? I admit that discussing some dead dude's ass wasn't all that holy but you have to admit that it was funny, right? Now, why couldn't Imai-sensei understand that?

My eyes lazily drifted to whatever universe lay outside the window. There wasn't much of a view there though. Just a little patch of overgrown land and beyond it a high brick wall that marked the school borders. A leaf infested branch leaned in by the window. In all my years in this hell hole, I had never bothered to even know what tree it belong to, the branch that is.

Now, with nothing better to do, I studied the leaves carefully, the veins that delicately webbed around the soft green.

Suddenly, something moved, very fast. It was just a blur of red and black. I didn't have time to identify it but my defenses kicked in immediately.

I sat up straight and blinked. With my heart hammering in my chest, I hoped that I had just imagined that. But when had my luck ever been so good?

Watanuki and Sakura looked up from their work and exchanged curious looks. Then there it was again. Whatever the thing was, it moved at lightning fast speeds, leaving just a brief flash of crimson in its wake.

I couldn't be sure but I had a feeling that it was circling the building. Its presence wasn't clear, as though only part of it was here. I knew then, that it was demon. Only they could mask their presence. Although human, I had always been able to sense demons, spirits and all those other ass—err, jerks out there. No matter how powerful they were, no matter what spells they used around themselves, they could never hide from me. This wasn't such a plus though since I couldn't hide from them either. Ever since I could remember, I had always been chased by bloodthirsty demons. Which—I know it's kind of obvious but I felt that I had to point it out all the same—sucks like hell.

The only thing that made me feel better was that I was not the only one with this stupid problem. Thankfully, Sakura, Syaoran and Watanuki had the same 'abilities'. If I had to suffer, it felt slightly bearable knowing that my friends shared my misery.

Okay, now that had me sounding like a bitch. What I meant was that it was better to know that I wasn't alone in this world with a problem that no one could solve; no one could help me with.

I felt a throb of the demon's presence again. This one was more powerful than the others I had met in the past sixteen years of my sorry existence. He had managed to mask most of his presence. I could only get little slivers of it, but it was still there.

Which left us with only once choice.

"Sakura-chan," I whispered fiercely, "cast a teleportation spell. Watanuki, help her."

Sakura had enough experience in the demon department to come to the same conclusion that I had and thankfully Watanuki had enough brain to not retort back at me for not using honorifics against his name.

They got to it with the spell. From the corner of my eye I saw Sakura take out her star key while Watanuki set up his circle which was soon to be overlapped by Sakura's.

I, on the other hand set up a couple of protective spells around the room. I would have set up a barrier but then the shield would have counteracted against Sakura and Watanuki's teleportation spell. Protective seals could keep the demon off us for a few minutes and that was all we needed.

You might think that instead of risking a teleportation spell, why not use a barrier to protect ourselves so that the demon remains out and we're safe in. But that'd just be the stupidest idea ever.

Here's the thing, demons couldn't care less if humans knew of their existence. But that leads to the question as to why the major human population have managed to remain ignorant of what's around them.

So let me explain. Demons generally stay in Hell until they are given a contract by an employer here on Earth. It could be a human, sprite or any other creature. Similarly we could also sign ourselves to an Angel (Yeah, they exist).

The contract may be to protect the employer, kill someone, gather information, well, you get the point. But the main fact is that whatever be the job, the demon will kill at any chance it gets, especially if its contract is one of the first two examples stated above. And once the killing starts, it won't stop until there is no one left alive around the place.

If it's an isolated area, then the causalities are less but if it's in the middle of a busy street, let me just say that it's not a pretty sight. Once on a rampage there's no stopping a demon.

And this particular one was most probably on a contract, either after Sakura, Watanuki or me or all three of us. And if we stupidly (and let me tell you, stupid is one of the many things that I'm not, despite what my brother…well, foster brother, keeps insisting) cast a barrier, the demon would just lie in wait and it wouldn't even matter if someone else came in, it'd just kill them. We'd be trapped in out own cage until our magic weakened enough for the demon to break through or until we starved to death, whichever came first.

"O key that holds the power of the stars," I heard Sakura over the hum in my eardrums caused by the demon's presence, "Show your true form to me. By the power that commands you, RELEASE!"

The circle sprung to life in a spark of gold, overlapping the azure one Watanuki had cast. I stepped inside the circles as Sakura and Watanuki started up the spell.

What happened next happened in the matter of about just half a second. I had never seen a demon so fast and so powerful before. Maybe that's why I hadn't given my best with the protective spells. I had done my basic stuff but I guess now, that I needed some of the heavy spells.

I blame my magic instructor for this. If Yuuko had just spent more time enlightening me on the proper uses of my magic than entertaining herself by insulting Watanuki and drowning herself in saké, I never would have got myself killed.

The demon was just a red blur as my spells were breached and he pulled me out of the circle. Thankfully, I didn't scream like a six-year-old in her first encounter with the cookie monster. No, I was far more dignified for that. I screamed like a nine-year-old.

"Yuki-chan!" Sakura was about to step out of the circle. That idiot! I sent a ripple of magic blaring towards Sakura to keep her inside the teleportation spell's range while I whirled around and rammed my fist towards the demon. It was a 'he'.

Tall, really tall, tanned, crimson eyes and a malicious grin twisted around his lips. I recognized him!

It took me a moment but I pulled up a smirk myself. I so clearly remembered that day. How could I forget? The memory rang clear and fresh as the present in my mind.

This was it now, this was my chance. This was time for revenge.

* * *

"_He broke though the seals we had planted outside." Syaoran informed._

"_This one is more powerful that the others. I didn't sense it until it had just broken into the parameters." Yūi said._

"_Right then," Fai got all business-like, "Sakura-chan, set up a barrier around the house. We'll have to summon it now."_

"_What are you talking about?" I asked._

_Yūi took my hand but it was Watanuki who answered. "These attacks are starting to be really frequent and you seem to be the target. Someone's probably signed a contract with the demons. So, we'll sign ourselves too."_

"_Are you all idiots?" I inquired, "Demons aren't the most reliable guardians."_

"_We know." Syaoran said, "We'll be summoning an Angel."_

_Oh, yes…they were definitely idiots—not that I had doubted that for even a second. I laughed. An Angel? Had everyone lost their freaking minds? "Oh, you're serious."_

"_Of course we're serious." Yūi seemed angry for some reason._

_I pressed my lips together "I think that a demon would be a better choice. Angels are expensive."_

"_Now you're being stupid, Yuki." Yūi said, "Do you even _know_ what a demon asks as its price?"_

"_No. But an Angel—"_

"_A life. The demon asks for a human life. Why do you think that there's always at least one murder wherever a demon is summoned?"_

* * *

Sakura and Watanuki were gone. They were safe. It was just me and the demon. No, it was an enraged best-friend breaking her promise for the second time and a very unlucky sucker who happened to be the murderer of that particular best friend.

This was personal and I wasn't going to hold back.

I didn't need to know that I was this demon's victim just by his utter lack of concern over Sakura and Watanuki's escape. He had come for me once before. But it was just too weird that he would come back after a long gap of four years.

Whatever. It was only better for me. I was far stronger now than I had been back then. I concentrated on the magic in me, letting the electric power flow through my veins.

I had to make a quick decision as to what spell I should use. In spite of Yuuko's constant efforts to enhance my offensive magic, I just couldn't…well, with all the fist fights and sucker punches I usually pulled, you'd think that offensive magic would be my forte.

It's not.

For some goddamn reason, I could pull up a shield much faster that I could fire a thunder bolt. I could heal even better. They called my type of mages healers.

_Healers! _

They say that, it's supposed to be a privilege to be able to heal. Yeah right. That's what they _say._ It's all bull! It's not a privilege. It's a burden. You see, a _healer's _magic is dependent on her emotions. My magic fed on my emotions. So, it wasn't much of a help when, say I had a dying friend on my arms and I was crying like hell.

I had to keep my emotions in check for me to be able to heal or pull up a decent shield. And it wasn't just sadness or anything, I couldn't experience too much of _any _emotion. I couldn't be too sad, too happy, too excited, too scared, too anything. I had to be an emotionless hollow shell.

_Privileged my sorry— _well, you know…

How was I supposed to be emotionless with so much blood? My best friend's blood. I couldn't even close up a single cut, how was I supposed to cover up that huge hole in his stomach? I just couldn't do it…and look at the price I paid.

It was bad enough that I already hated my birthday then, it was worse that now, I had to visit Yūi's grave on that day each year.

Now that I had the chance, someone was going to pay. I didn't care that my offensive side wasn't strong enough. I didn't care that my angry fists wouldn't be enough this time, I didn't care that this demon had beaten a reaper, that's what they called the strongest offensive mages.

I was going to beat the shit out of this demon and that was it.

Of course I didn't have the slight clue how I was going to do that and I was running out of time to figure it out.

* * *

Remember all that mental talk about killing that demon for what he had done and making him pay no matter how weak my powers were? Yeah, that plan fell flat the second that the demon beat the crap out of me.

The stupid demon didn't have to try. He swatted my fireball like it was just an annoying fly and he even had the nerve to grin up at me. He advanced, unsheathing his sword, a wicked, gleaming katana.

Hah! Like that was going to scare me!

I lifted my hands in front of me in a defensive stance, ready to pull a shield the second he swung that sword in my direction. I was perfectly in control of my emotions. There was no way in hell that his attack would pass through my shield. Either it would be absorbed or deflected right back at him. I hoped for the latter.

I saw the air around him ripple, like it was too hot or something (okay, I'm talking about the air here, not the demon. Don't get any ideas. I'm not a pervert!). I held my breath and readied myself. This was it. It was now or never, because as much as I hated to admit it, I was too weak to beat this demon. If I could hurt him using his own attack, maybe my magic would have a better effect on him. Maybe I'd have a chance.

"Hama-Ryo-O-Jin!"

The circle formed, lines looping and overlapping the grey floor underneath me. Two concentric circles shaped themselves in the space in front of my outstretched hands. The runes lined themselves in place on both circles.

One circle turned clockwise, while the other in the opposite direction.

Just a second before the demon's attack hit me, the shield activated. It rippled out in front of me, spreading out and blocking the blast of energy.

But the demon turned out to be far more powerful than I had anticipated. His attack was neither deflected nor absorbed by my shield. I had never seen this happen before. I had to struggle to keep the circles up, the ones that supported my shield. My arms were starting to ache.

Okay, now I was getting scared.

The circles in front of my outstretched hands were the ones that supported my shield. They would keep turning like the hands of a clock as long as the shield was up. The outer circle moved clockwise while the inner circled moved anti-clockwise. They keep up a rhythm in fixed interval of time. The slower the circles move, the stronger the shield. Right then, my circles were spinning like crazy.

It had also been quite some time since Sakura and Watanuki had escaped. However selfish the thought, I had expected them to bring help. I was their friend, wasn't I? I was also in trouble. So, what was taking them so long?

The assassin's lips twitched in the hint of a smile.

This was it. He braced himself for the demon's attack to hit the girl. She was going to die now and he'd have to collect her soul. He should have been happy. The job had been done quick and effortlessly, and he didn't have to kill the target directly.

But for some reason, he wasn't happy. Although he was smiling, it wasn't from joy or relief of another job well done.

The smile was just an involuntary action when he was trying to hide another emotion. And at that particular moment, no matter how wrong it was, it pained him to see the girl die.

It had been four years but he still couldn't see her as another one of his targets. She was, as she had always been to him, his best friend. Now, here he was, watching as she died, waiting to take her soul with him.

The blast from the demon's attack raced for its victim.

Any second now…

But it never hit her. A split second before the blast of energy touched her, the girl activated a shield. It spread around her in lightning speeds.

So, she had grown stronger, as was to be expected.

She was holding up…but with difficulty. The demon was strong, she wouldn't last much longer.

"Shou-Ryuu-Sen!" the demon sent another waver of energy towards her.

Oh, she was in for it now…her barrier would never hold up the second attack. There were several cracks on her shield already.

But there was a surprise for him; it seemed that she didn't want to give up that easily. She shifted her position and closed her eyes in concentration. She looked pale, with beads of sweat trickling down her face.

The assassin was confused. What the hell was she doing?

A pained cry rippled out of her throat as she opened her eyes and at the same time, two more circles formed just in front of the two old ones. This was something new.

He had never seen her pull up two barriers at once. It must have a taken a whole lot of energy. And sure enough, when the impact of the attack hit the shield, the girl looked as though she'd collapse any second.

For a second, the assassin wondered if he had done the right thing by waiting for the demon to kill his target.

Maybe he should have killed her himself the other night and taken her soul then. She would have died painlessly, unlike the suffering she was being put through at the moment.

* * *

Yuki's POV

_We didn't need a circle. Yūi was the one summoning the Angel and his magic didn't work that way. He didn't need an magic circle._

_He closed his eyes and lifted his right hand. I could imagine him visualizing the runes he'd need to use. His hand moved slowly, tracing the pattern in his mind. A glowing line of blue magic trailed after his pointed fingers as they twisted and turned wherever required._

_His free hand clutched mine as I stood with him while the rest of the guys stood in a circle around us, holding up layered barriers around the house to keep the demon off until the we were almost ready to summon._

_I didn't like this idea one bit. But everyone of course ignored what I had to say. Maybe I could rob banks with my invisibility…or stalk Christian Bale…or…_

"_We're ready." Yūi announced._

_I didn't bother paying attention; well not until he suddenly turned around—after giving Syaoran and the others instructions to deactivate the barrier they had around the house to let the summoned Angel in—and hugged me._

_I regretted the weak squeal that escaped my throat._

_He pulled back quickly and placed his hands on my shoulders and looked in my eyes, "Don't let go of me," his voice was almost a whisper, "When the summon is complete, the Angel will take us to the border of its world and ours. The contract will form there."_

"_You have been planning for this for a while, haven't you?" I asked, my voice no louder than his._

_Yūi nodded, "But we were going to do this only as a last resort. There is no other choice, Yuki. We can't lose you."_

"_But why do you have to summon this thing? It's for my protection. I should pay the price."_

"_No," he said, shaking his head. Just that single syllable: No._

_I didn't understand why and I was going to protest further but then the runes began to glow…softly at first but then the light got brighter until it was almost blinding._

"_Don't let go of my hand, okay, Yuki." Yūi said, his voice close to my ear. I couldn't see him since everything was just a blinding flash of white. But I could feel him right by me, the warmth of his hand against mine._

_The light got even brighter. I had to close my eyes but it was still painful._

_And then all of a sudden everything went dark._

_I opened my eyes and found myself blinking up at a dark ceiling that seemed to keep on stretching. Weird. I was in my room…how did I—_

_Oh, this was probably the border to the Angel's world and ours. I should have paid more attention to what Yūi was saying than get all freaked about how nice it felt to have him hug me like that._

_A felt a pressure against my hand._

"_Yuki?"_

_I turned my head sideways. I hadn't realized it before but I was lying on the ground.__I could feel that the grass beneath me was soft. So was the thin veil of mist that curled around the ground. But it wasn't cold as I anticipated. It was warm._

_Oh dear God, this was SO creepy!_

_The only thing that prevented me from screaming and demanding to go back home was Yūi, who was lying right beside me. His face was far too close to mine for my liking…well, actually I did like it, far too much than I should have. I wasn't even thinking properly._

"_Are you okay?" he asked me._

_I nodded and tried to get up. Yūi beat me to it and hauled me up to my feet._

_I tried to get a better look at my surroundings. I realized that the dark ceiling that yawned overhead was actually the sky. A handful of stars and a crescent moon winked though the clouds….but it was noon back home…_

_We were in some kind of woodland. A small stream trickled by in a bubbling murmur. Fireflies danced in their glow of light. There was a large weeping willow right beside us whose leaves moved in rhythm with the gentle summer breeze in the air._

_I jumped up suddenly when I heard a soft tinkering from behind me, right by the willow. It wasn't loud or anything, the sound. It was soft, like tiny bells or wind chimes…it was just me. This place—no matter how beautiful it was—just freaked me out._

_I don't know why, okay? It just did._

_Yūi's grip on me tightened._

_A girl stepped out from behind the tree and I could see that she wasn't human. She was far too beautiful. Hell, she was gorgeous._

_Okay, now don't go questioning my sexual orientation…I'm straight. I was just pointing out the facts._

_The 'Angel' seemed to appear somewhat near my age. She had waist-length jet black hair and unusual purple eyes. I saw her smile and she totally fit the category for what she was, you know…an Angel._

_But how was I supposed to know that the price she was going to ask for would make her seem worse than that ugly demon after my life._

_And then I heard her voice, the voice of that stupid thing we summoned, that Angel who got my best friend killed._

"_You summoned me, master."_

_

* * *

_

Tomoyo wished that the teleportation spell that she had cast had landed her where she wanted to.

She was inside the school ground and that was a plus but she didn't want to waste any time. She had let Yuki down once. She didn't want to do it again.

_Just hang in there!_

The Angel would have cast another teleportation spell but she was just too frenzied to be sure that her magic would take her to the right spot.

She increased her pace when she saw the building loom ahead.

"Oh, no." Tomoyo heard Sakura's soft squeak right beside her.

She would have asked what it was for when she saw it too. A pale, translucent barrier surrounded the building where Yuki was supposed in be in. That was probably why her teleportation spell couldn't take her to the detention room.

She stopped short at that. How were they supposed to get inside? She could sense that the barrier was strong even from the distance she was from it. It would take a considerable amount of time and they couldn't spare that.

"I see somebody," Watanuki said. He was pointing to the oak right by the school building. On one of its top branches—the one right by the window that looked into the room where Yuki was—was somebody. He had his back to them so the only detail that Tomoyo could figure out was his midnight black hair that moved with the low breeze. He had a large, black coat on and was apparently observing Yuki get beaten up by the demon.

"That's probably the caster of this barrier," Tomoyo muttered.

And even from that distance, Tomoyo knew that he had heard her. He turned slowly, as though unwilling to take his eyes from the room he was looking into.

Tomoyo stopped short at her tracks when she saw his face. There was no mistake here, even with some minor differences, like the hair and eye color, his face was exactly the same as her master.

And knowing, the price she had asked of him…this person right there had to be the one to have summoned her four years ago.

How the hell was she supposed to fight him now?

She saw his lips twitch up into a smile. And then she heard a scream from the building behind the dark figure. It was Yuki.

* * *

Yuki's POV

There was a blinding flash of light as the demon summed up another attack. I knew that this was it. Both of my barriers had long webby cracks all around and I was using every ounce of my strength to just keep them up. I could never pull up another one.

You know what they say about your whole life flashing before you just seconds before you're about to die?

Absolute bullshit.

I could only feel my heart beating like a Harley Davidson and I think I even pictured the demon as a Hell's Angel with the beard and tattoos and shades and everything. You should know, my imaginations gets wild sometimes.

But the most ridiculous thing that my brain pulled up was just after I crashed down into the ground.

Every bit of me felt like it was on fire. It was all just unbearable and maybe that was what that stimulated the ludicrous 'vision' I had…and the thoughts that followed.

I saw a wave of black hair that framed a familiar face. I saw the person I had killed four years ago and cursed myself for it everyday. I saw my best friend. I saw Yūi, with his cocky smile and all, leaning down to me.

And for a split second I thought that he, or his spirit as I guessed it probably was, was going to kiss me.

Stupid right? I'd like to think that it was the pain that had me feeling the way I was right then. It probably was. Because why would Yūi do that? And why would I want Yūi to kiss me anyway?

I didn't like him, not in that way. Despite what Sakura kept insisting for those few years that I had known him, while alive.

Oh well, I guess that we would meet again in the afterlife…if there was such a thing. He could kiss me then, if he wanted to…and I could punch him again. This was going to be such a fun reunion.

And then, just as his face got real close to mine, my stupid heart decided to give its last thumping lurch and everything faded into nothingness…

Oops, I guess was dead!

* * *

A pair of crimson eyes opened, although still a bit clouded from the vision they had seen.

The raven haired woman smiled lazily at the young boy seated on the opposite chair. He was around eight or so and his sapphire eyes gleamed up in anticipation.

"He's taken her soul." The woman announced.

"But she's not dead," the boy offered.

The woman nodded, "Yes. But she will soon be. A body without a soul cannot exist for long if you do nothing about it and I don't think that even that Angel has much knowledge in the preservation of a body without a soul."

"So, what do we do now?"

Taking a swig of the smoking pipe she had hidden in the sleeve of her kimono all this time, the woman said, "That's up to you." Leaning forward she smiled, "What is your wish, Fai?"

"I wish to save Yuki-chan. I want her soul to return back to her body. She can't die yet. Not before she has saved Yūi…and me."

The witch of dimensions smiled, "Your price, Fai D. Fluorite will be that you won't be able to go back to your body until your work in Celes is finished. And once that is over, your memories of your previous life will fade when you return back to your body."

The boy nodded, "I accept."

* * *

A/N: So, Nims-chan, you were right when you guessed that the assassin was either Fai or Yūi. So, you get to go out with anyone of the TRC guys. Take your pick.

Also, I mentioned that the assassin's hair and eyes were back but Fai is blonde and his eyes are blue. I just want you guys to know that I didn't make a mistake there. It was intentions. You'll know why soon.

Tomoyo: An important announcement, Artemis-chan has written a manga on Reaper (with Rei-chan as the editor). The characters are different and the storyline might have a few differences. The first chapter will be done soon and she'll be posting it on deviantart.

Me: We'll give you the link and you can check it out if you want. It's not bad and I worked my ass off on it. And if you have an account over at deviantart, could you please leave a comment? Or you could tell me what you think in your reviews.

Rei: Alright, then, we'll be wrapping up now. But before we go, here's a preview to the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Sacrifice

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

* * *

"_Don't do this." I said_

"_I'm sorry."_

_And just like that I raised my hand and slapped him across his face._

"_I hate you!"_

"_Yuki, don—"_

"_And if you what to be this reckless moron, well, so can I!"_

_I yanked my hand from his and turned around and ran away as fast as I could…away from him…away from this madness, not willing to be a part of my best friend's homicidal plans._

_How could I have known that what I had done at that whim of a moment would be the very reason Yūi got killed._


	6. Death, the sanctimonious bitch

Chapter 5: Death, the sanctimonious bitch

Author: XxArtemisxX

Editor: lady sovereign

* * *

A/N: See, I've updated, A.. The very thought of my Taemin (even though he's not an anime) being tortured prompted me to write this.

Fai: What? You weren't afraid that she'd torture ME?

Me: She said she'd torture me or the anime dude I was currently with. Sorry to break this to you, Fai, but I'm definitely over you. I don't think any amount of fanfictions or reading TRC again can bring Taemin down from his place in my crush list.

Fai: But he's not even an anime!

Me: All the better for me. Now I know I can actually meet up with him…someday…

Fai: You mean stalk him!

Me: Shut up.

Sakura: Er, Artemis-chan, can I come along with you?

Tomoyo: Count me in as well. I'll tape EVERYTHING! AHAHAHAHAHA!

Me: You guys like SHINee as well? Since when?

Rei: Since I made them watch the video of the Japanese version of Replay.

Sakura and Tomoyo: Tehehehe…so HOT!

Me: Er, aren't Syaoran and Kuro-ku going to be upset?

Tomoyo: *smiles* oh, don't worry, I've 'taken care' of them.

Me: *gulp* Uh, okay. Well, come on.

Fai: Go ahead STALKERS!

Rei: Stop calling it STALKING! We call it LOVE!

*walks off*

Yūko: Hey you forgot about the didclaimer!

*silence*

Mokona: Mokona will read it! Disclaimer: Artemis-Taemint/Flame/Blinger/Locket/MVP/SHAWOL-chan and Rei- Taemint/Flame/Blinger/Locket/MVP/SHAWOL –chan don't own TRC or any of the characters. And right now, I don't think they wish to either. But Mokona will make sure they will. Oh, they will. Mokona has ways…MUHAHAHAHA!

Watanuki: Mokona, did you just do an evil laugh?

Mokona: Yep! ^_^

Watanuki: O_o

* * *

_It can't be, It can't be,__  
__Please don't leave like this__  
__Please hold me again just once, just once__  
__It can't be, It can't be,__  
__Please don't leave like this__  
__Please hold me again just once, just once__  
__If I close my eyes to go see you again__  
__Hold the one who has stopped right here_

_I'll try and try again__  
__Attempt the impossible again and again__  
__Come back to me_

(SHINee- Please don't go)

* * *

Yuki's POV

"_What is your wish?"_

_Yūi grinned, "Oh, it's simple. I need you to protect," he pulled me forward, "Yuki here."_

"_And the terms of the contract?"_

"_Protection from any living or dead who might wish harm on Yuki...even herself. You have to keep her alive under all costs."_

"_Protect me from myself? Yūi, what the—" he clamped his hand over my mouth, stopping me in mid-sentence_

"_So," Yūi continued, still smiling, "do you accept?"_

_The Angel pouted slightly, "Aw, another protection contract? Why doesn't anybody ever call an Angel on a termination job? All of us are not kind and peace-loving as you'd think."_

_Yūi's smile only broadened, "Oh, you'll have a lot of demons to kill here. Apparently, my Minakami's a wanted person out there."_

"_YOUR WH—" Okay, if he didn't stop interrupting me soon, somebody was going to end up with a LOT of broken things. Bones in particular._

_What did he think? Stating that I was _his?_ Just because he put my last name there instead of Yuki, it didn't make it any less creepy._

"_Oh, Yay! Goody!" I was shocked to see the Angel jump up and down in glee, clapping her hands with a grin as large as Yūi's plastered across her face._

_Dear God! One hyperactive fool, summoning another. And just when I though my life couldn't get any worse._

"_I accept! I accept!" The Angel screamed._

"_Great," Yūi said, "so, that'll be the foundation of our contract."_

"_Now, for your price."_

_For a second, I got really scared then. I didn't know what the price would, or could be but I felt like I should pay it. It was for my protection after all. It was just unfair that Yūi had to be the one to do this._

"_This isn't what I usually ask for…but you're a special case," the Angel began, "I'm guided by the child of Life but this time, it is not she who has determined your price. It's her sister who requested this."_

_Neither Yūi nor I said anything._

"_Your price, Yūi D. Fluorite, is your soul."_

"_What?" this time I wasn't loud. My voice just came out as an inaudible squeak. Yūi didn't react in any way though._

"_But," the Angel continued, "It is not I who will collect your soul. So I cannot accept your price now. You will be required to pay when the time comes. But the contract will form now."_

"_His soul? What the hell are you talking about?"_

_The Angel turned her amethyst eyes on me, "Yes, his soul. It was requested for specially."_

"_By whom?" my voice broke a bit._

"_The child of Death."_

* * *

Forgetting everything else on her mind, Tomoyo raced forward the second Yuki's scream pierced the air. Her wings gave her the extra momentum she needed to hurry.

But in her haste she had forgotten about the dark-haired person standing by the room Yuki's was in. He mind only showed her the memories of the time she had failed Yuki.

"Can't let you pass, dear." A voice said from right behind the Angel and with a sudden tug on her wings, Tomoyo found herself reeling back to the ground. Twisting around with difficulty, she gathered her strength and sent a kick flying towards the familiar face that had grabbed one of her grey wings and was propelling her downwards.

Her captor blocked her attack but it gave her a momentum to break free.

"Who are you?" Tomoyo asked. She recognized the face but it possible couldn't be him. He was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, but you know me," came a reply," I admit that I don't look exactly the same as I did since our last meet. It has been a while. What, four years? But it's hardly that long to forget a friend."

"You're not him. It's just your face." Tomoyo spat even though something inside her said otherwise.

The assassin smiled, "Oh, but I am."

"Yūi's dead."

"Please, Tomoyo. You should know better. I'm just here paying my price for summoning you."

"What?"

The assassin didn't answer. Instead he lifted his head upwards and closed his eyes like he was trying to listen to something faraway.

When he opened them back again, a moment later, his smile broadened. "Well, our demon friend's done his job. My cue."

A dark smoky substance began surrounding him. Flashing a cocky grin at the Angel the assassin let himself get engulfed entirely by the dark mist. When it cleared, he was gone.

Just then a loud crash emitted from behind Tomoyo.

Yuki! Shit!

Turning around, with a powerful beat of her strong wings, Tomoyo raced to save the person she was contracted to protect.

* * *

Yuki's POV

"_I accept." Yūi answered before I could react._

_I was horrified. How could he accept? Hadn't he heard the Angel clearly?_

"_No!" I shouted, "You can't. Didn't you hear her? The child of Death wants your soul in exchange. _Death!_ You can't accept, Yūi. I can't let you do that."_

_Yūi's grip on me tightened. He turned to smile at me but it was sad. "I don't mind. It's just my soul that's required and you heard Angel-chan here, I don't have to pay the price now."_

"_NO." I said firmly, "You're _not_ doing this."_

"_I accept as well." The Angel said_

"_No!" I repeated_

"_The Angel looked at me sadly, "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. It's not for you to decide at this stage."_

"_Okay, you shut the hell up," I snapped at the stupid thing before pulling Yūi's hand to make him turn and face me "You are not doing this Yūi. I do not want to live with my best friend's blood on my hands for the rest of my life. We can find another way to beat the crap out of that stupid demon."_

_Yūi just stared at the ground. He didn't reply, didn't even bother to look at me._

"_Thanks for the great hospitality," I said to the Angel, sarcasm dripping in every word, "but it's time for us to leave."_

_I turned around started to pull Yūi along with me but he didn't move. I stopped when I felt his grip on me tighten and tug me a bit back._

"_We're going, Yūi." I said without turning around._

"…"

"_Yūi!"_

"_No." his whispered voice said, "I've already accepted, Yuki. There's no turning back."_

_I turned around then, an incredulous expression coving my features, "What?"_

"_I've accepted the contract."_

_An indescribable anger clouded my mind, spread though each tiny bone of my body. With a hard expression, I walked towards Yūi and looked up at his blue eyes._

"_Don't do this." I said_

"_I'm sorry."_

_And just like that I raised my hand and slapped him across his face._

"_I hate you!"_

"_Yuki, don—"_

"_And if you what to be this reckless moron, well, so can I!"_

_I yanked my hand from his and turned around and ran away as fast as I could…away from him…away from this madness, not willing to be a part of my best friend's homicidal plans._

_How could I have known that what I had done at that whim of a moment would be the very reason Yūi got killed._

~O~

The Reaper summoned his scythe. This was it. Quick and easy. One swing and it would be over. She was already suffering. What he was about to do was take away the pain.

So why was it that he found himself hesitating again?

Yuki would die, sure. But her soul would be at peace. She would no longer have to keep fighting and running from those demons, she would finally be truly and completely safe.

Death's wings unfolded again, this time to take this soul for good. The glossy black tentacle-like wings glided down and reached for her heart.

Yūi bent down towards the dying person he himself had forsaken his soul to protect. She was lying in an awkward position and even though she probably couldn't feel the pain by now, he still lifted her head and placed it in his lap in a more comfortable state.

Her eyes were slightly open and trained on him, although the assassin couldn't be sure if she could see or not.

Leaning down, he placed a kiss on her forehead just as the wings pulled out her soul.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, knowing full well she could no longer hear him. "Sleep well."

And just like that he was gone.

* * *

Yūi's POV

"_Don't do this," He heard her say._

"_I'm sorry."_

_He could feel her anger and sadness as she lifted her hand and slapped him hard. He didn't bother ducking. He deserved it for what he was about to do._

"_I hate you!"_

"_Yuki, don—"_

"_And if you what to be this reckless moron, well, so can I!"_

_She pulled her hand from his grip forcibly and turned around and ran. He was about to follow after her when a transparent barrier rippled out in front of him._

"_You can't leave," the Angel said, "Not until the contact has been signed."_

"_But—"_

"_The faster we do this, the faster you get to go back to her. If you're lucky, she'll still be alive."_

_Yūi nodded silently._

_The Angel walked up to him and fixed her violet eyes onto his sapphire ones._

"_This might hurt a bit," she warned, lifting her hand and as she pressed her fingers to this temple, a burning pain lashed inside his skull. It spread through his body as he fell down to his knees._

_It felt to him as though thousands of needles were craving something into his back. A scream erupted in the cold night as the contact formed and the Angel fell down to Earth._

* * *

Yuki's POV

_It was not like I didn't know the consequences of my actions. I was well aware what would happen to me if I let go of Yūi's hand. But I was just so mad!_

_It was of course, incredibly stupid and just like I told Yūi, reckless._

_Here's the thing…just like I could sense a demon's aura, they could sense me. And in the Otherworld (the place I was currently stranded on), things were very dangerous. It was _their_ territory. No just demons, but for all kinds on inhuman spirits, this was a place where they weren't bound by contracts or anything. They could kill as if they wanted to and would ignore me if they felt like it. But obvious I wasn't _that_ lucky._

_The reason that Yūi insisted on holding my hand while we were her was that since he was the one to summon the Angel, he had been granted access while I was kind of like his plus-one at this place._

_As long as I was with him, he could mask my aura. And now that I had run away…well, you get the point. I was as good as dead._

* * *

Syaoran was calling for an ambulance while Watanuki dilled for Yūko and Sakura was busy crouched beside Yuki, trying to heal her wounds. But Tomoyo knew that it would be of no use.

She could sense that it was just a hollow shell they had with them. There was no soul here. Yuki was gone. She was dead and Tomoyo had failed.

"She's not dead," a voice said from the doorway. Yūko leaned against the entrance, her cell-phone to her ear, still connected to Watanuki, "Yuki has merely lost her soul."

"What are you taking about?" Watanuki asked disconnecting the call since Yūko was there already.

The 'witch' turned her scarlet eyes on Tomoyo. "If Yuki had been dead, you'd immediately be deported to your world since the contact would clearly dissolve."

Of course! Tomoyo hadn't realized that. But… "But how can a body survive without a soul? Plus, Yuki's body's in a bad condition." Tomoyo said.

"Yuki is a Healer. A powerful one and it's her magic that's keeping her alive," Yūko explained, "but that won't last long. If her soul is not returned, she'll die."

There were several sharp intakes of breath.

"What can we do to help?" Syaoran stepped forward.

"A wish with its due price has already been paid to save this child. You can take her to the hospital and get her wounds patched up."

"But her soul…" Sakura said quietly.

"It'll be back soon…" Yūko assured.

* * *

Yuki's POV

"_Oh, God!" I stopped short when I head Yūi's voice. I turned around to see him sprinting towards me. "Thank god I found you."_

_He stopped to catch his breath._

_I watched him with narrowed eyes before continuing my aimless walk forward. "Go away."_

_I couldn't see his face but I imagined he was frowning from the sound of his voice. "Yuki. Please. We have to get back."_

"_So that you can sacrifice your soul to Death's satanic baby?"_

"_The Child of Death," Yūi started to correct me, "Is not really Death's child. She's Death personified."_

"_Yeah," I laced my words with sarcasm, "Whatever. You think I'm gonna come back and let you play babysitter to some soul-sucking, sanctimonious bitch?"_

"_You haven't even met her yet!" Yūi tried to sound defensive but it was obvious my words had stung. I just couldn't understand why. I wasn't calling _him _names. "Don't go labeling someone when you don't even know what they're like."_

_I stopped again and whirled around, my hands on my hips. "Why do you care anyway? Just a while ago you were out there selling your soul to save my life and now you're here defending some Child of Death you've never met…." I stopped as something dawned on me. "Wait, is _she_ the reason you're doing all thing?"_

"_What are you taking about?"_

"_Oh, I get it now," I said. "You like this Death chick. She's the reason you're doing all this…not me."_

"_Don't be silly." Yūi smiled and for reason, I found this extremely creepy, and not in a why-does-he-seem-suddenly-attractive kind of way but more like a he's-about-to-kill-me way. "I only like you, Yuki."_

_I took a step back and glared at him. "No."_

"_Stop being silly and come one," Yūi urged. He took a couple of steps towards me and I backed off even more._

"_You're not Yūi," I said. How could I have not felt it before? His aura was all wrong. It had always been warm and bluish…like him and his eyes. It was almost the same now, except for a few inky black streaks that were almost unnoticeable unless I concentrated really hard._

"_What are you?" I asked. "Who are you? Are you a demon?"_

_Yūi, or whoever it was posing as him, made a face. "Demon? Of course not. I am far from a demon."_

"_What are you?" I repeated._

"_An Angel…well, almost, but not quite," and as I watched, Yūi's face changed and the real owner's face took over. It was a girl, around my age. Maybe a little older. She had long, waist-length straight black hair and equally dark eyes._

_The streaks of black in the aura I had seen was had now consumed every inch of the light aura she had been faking._

"_I'm a sprite," she said. "The Child of Death to be more precise."_

* * *

Yūi placed the simmering orb that was Yuki's soul into the cryogenic tank. The tank itself was essentially developed especially for the preservation of souls. Shaped like a football, its two ends were a black metal Yūi couldn't seem to recognize. Its middle portion was transparent but the material was much tougher than normal glass.

It was a strange combination of science and magic. Using cryogenics and a few basic masking and preservation spells, this small object was the safest place to keep a soul out of a body without dispersing its essence.

While the magic masked the soul's aura and even if there were a few spell around the tank for the soul's preservation, it was mostly the low temperature inside the tank that kept the soul intact while away from its body.

Who would have though that little Miss. Obnoxious Child of Death could come up with that?

Sighing, the reaper closed the tank and cast a teleportation spell to the drop off. He wanted to get rid of this soul before his will broke and he hurried off to return the soul to its owner.

Was this some sort of twisted punishment by that witch (by which he meant the Child of Death) for secretly hating her for well, the most part of his afterlife? Maybe. He could never really figure out how her twisted mind worked.

The tentacles of the dimensional barrier reached for the Reaper and he was soon enveloped in a shower of rainbow swirls.

"Well, Yuki," the assassin said, "this is it. I died to protect you only to have my soul being manipulated into killing you. I know you'd probably laugh at the irony of it."

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Yuki's POV

_I don't know how long I stood there with my mouth hanging open, my brain still unable to process this weird girl's words properly._

"_Don't you have anything to say?" the alleged 'Child of Death' pouted._

"_Er," I racked my brain for words. Anything coherent would do. "You're my age. You're not a baby."_

_But satanic? Definitely._

"_I'm older than you. By three years actually." She said._

"_Uh, okay."_

"_Hmm, you're no fun," she folded her hands and looked me up and down. "What does Yūi see in you, anyway?"_

_I had no idea what she was talking about but I was growing weary of her. Also I had a point to get across and her attitude and tendency to keep on babbling wasn't helping me much._

"_Don't take Yūi's soul," I blurted. "Please."_

_I only added the last part thinking that it'd be better if I was polite and worked my way with words at first. If that failed, I still had my fists. If I could take on the seniors in my school, what was a tiny sprite for me, anyway?_

"_No can't do, kiddo." I got ready to introduce Ms. Reason and Ms. Persuasion, my two beloved fists to her haughty face just to see that smirk wiped out of the face of this earth._

"_But why?"_

"_Because he's already in the contract. I can't undo it." She said solemnly._

"_BULLSHIT!" I screamed. "THAT'S BULLSHIT."_

"_You're just a novice healer. What do you know about summoning Angels and the contracts involved?"_

_I wanted to punch her and rip out her hair. I wanted to barbecue her and flambé her at the same time and then dissect her like that China rose we had to cut in school for biology. The same experiment where I accidently cut off Sakura's ovary. Well, her _flower's _ovary._

_Are every single one of you perverts? I miss out one word and your mind starts spinning?_

"_I don't have much time," Miss. Dead Bitch said. "And neither do you. I have a feeling you're imagining painful tortures for me but listen to what I have to say for a while."_

_I didn't grace her with a reply. My silence was enough._

"_I don't want to kill Yūi and if things go as planned, nothing bad will happen to him." I snorted when I heard this. She was going to take Yūi's soul and she was saying nothing bad would happen to him?_

"_If things go wrong though," she continued, "ask your other self for help. You may be a healer but your true magic hasn't been activated yet. You'll need your other self for that, to awaken your magic. That's the only way you'll be able to save your friend."_

_I didn't understand one word of what she had spewed but I knew as much of a witch this Child of Death was; she was giving me hints as to saving Yūi. Or this was just some cruel April fool's joke. But it was July now. All fool's day was long gone._

_Or maybe this maniac had her calendar all wrong._

"_I hope you take this seriously," the Child of death said, "This is the only way you can save all of us. This is the only way to prevent the prophesy."_

"_What pro—"_

"_Ask your other self when you see her."_

_She took a step forward until she was just within arm's length form me. My eyes widened in surprise as she lifted both her hands and pressed them to the sides of my head._

"_What—"_

"_It's time you met her…your other self…the other half of your soul."_

_And then my world turned black._

* * *

A/N: The next update may take a while because I had exams on the 8th and I have a manga to finish by the 31st. This is the fist time I'm participating in a manga completion. Please, please pray I win!

Rei: And a huge thanks to all the people who kindly review the previous chapter. Even a single review makes Artemis ecstatic. Receiving so many is just surreal.

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Nims-chan: How did your sister's boards go?

Your guesses are really interesting. Of course I can't tell you f you're right or not now. You'll just have to be patient. What I can tell you is that the last part about Fai's price is not related to the manga. It has something to do with one of my other fics. It's up to you to figure out which one.

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neko-chan: Thank you for that long review. It really made my day. regarding the question you asked about where Fai's whereabouts when Yūi sensed the demon, well, he was downstairs with the others. Remember, Yūi had taken Yuki upstairs to her room and that's when he's sensed the demon. See, the Fai in here is the dead twin from TRC and Yūi is the Fai who traveled with the TRC group. So, all Yūi/OC moments from the past are actually Fai/OC moments.

And yes, all your questions beg for spoilers. And since you don't want any (spoilers, that is. not that i would tell anyone anything beforehand), I won't be able to answer anything. Also, when you said that you liked Fai better than Yūi, did you mean the lying, cheating, deceiving Fai whose actual name was Yūi or the dead Fai?

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In-A-World-Of-Black-And-White: Well, here's your update! Thanks a lot for the review.

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coolmissy11d12: Thank you for the complement. But please feel free to point out any flaws that you might find here. I need to know how I can improve myself. I've read the fic you were talking about and I really like it. I think I left a review so please update, okay?

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Lollipop Stealer: Thanks for the great review. I really appreciate it. If you can, please tell me if there's anything that you don't like or anything that needs changes in this fic. I'd like to make _Reaper_ much better for the future chapters and any insight will be much appreciated. And the manga is on stand by for now. I need to study for my exams and finish my entry for the manga competition. I'll work on the manga version of _Reaper_ later.

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A.: I hope you remember your username soon. You know, you sacred me there. The very thought of my crush being tortured was way too much for me to handle. So, i updated as soon as I saw your review. Please, do subscribe to _Reaper_ when you can login again. Thanks a lot for the review.

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A/N: I have to go now. I'm watching City Hunter and I really want to know what happens next. My Lee Minho...I'm coming!

Oh, and don't forget to review. You'll get anything of Fai's (like his tatoo, staff, clothes, etc) if you do. And Constructive criticism is always welcome. Anything that would help me improve will be much appreciated. But please, no flames just because I don't happen to ship Kuro/Fai, okay? Be nice people.


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